Esports World Cup 2025: Arjun Erigaisi loses to Hikaru Nakamura in dramatic third-place playoff

India’s Arjun Erigaisi lost to the USA’s Hikaru Nakamura in the third-place playoff of the chess event at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh on Friday.

Nakamura pipped Erigaisi 3.5-2.5 in a thrilling tie which was settled in the sixth and final game.

The two Grandmasters were neck and neck for most of the decider before Erigaisi, playing with black pieces, lost his footing in the endgame. He made a series of errors under time pressure to hand the game and the third place to Nakamura.

The Indian GM had started the playoff on the right foot as he claimed a win with white pieces in the first game before playing out a draw in the second.

Nakamura stormed back into the tie with back-to-back wins in the third and fourth games to take the lead. But Erigaisi held his nerve to level the scores with a win in the fifth game, only to miss out in the decider.

With the win, Nakamura secured a prize money of $145,000, while Erigaisi will take home $115,000 for his fourth-place finish.

Later in the day, Magnus Carlsen will take on Alireza Firouzja in the final.